Friday 24 June 2022

Becoming too Venetian

 A confession: I never count the words for entries when choosing winners (and have been known not to notice when prompt words are absent) so if those required by Blogger to remain Anonymous could identify themselves by adding their name it won't be counted and would be helpful. Which is not to say so many of you are unrecognisable by your style. This week it is the inimitable style of John’s ‘I’m innocent I tell you’ that ticked the box for me, but I thank you all for your participation.

Words for the coming week:  bubble, hope weak

Entries by midnight Thursday 30th June, new words posted Friday 1st  July

Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or poetry using all three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir. Serialised fiction is, as always, welcome. All variants and uses of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever.

20 comments:

  1. James E. Deegan25 June 2022 at 23:05

    INEVITABLE

    “You and I are now in the bubble,” Rudy dejectedly murmured to his wife Linda.
    “What are you talking about?” Linda asked, her voice breaking down.
    “I mean that no one else is ahead of us now. We are next.”
    “Next?” Linda’s face twisted with confusion. “Next for what?”
    “For the Grim Reaper,” replied Rudy gloomily.
    Linda breathed heavily. “Rudy,” she said weakly, “I hope you’re not serious. For God’s sake... we just buried my parents.”
    “Yes, I know, Dear, and since our fate is inevitable, there is no sense in delaying it.”
    He pulled the gun from his pocket.

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    Replies
    1. James E. Deegan25 June 2022 at 23:10

      Congratulations, John, on yet another fabulous winning entry!

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    2. Antonia //- congrats to John for last week's win and to James for a very off the wall story to start this week.

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    3. Yikes, Rudy is definitely an empty glass kind of guy! Hoping Linda has excellent reflexes.

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    4. Hope Linda has the with and strength to snatch gun off him and put him out of his misery.

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    5. There are times to be proactive... and times not to be. Rudy jumping the gun is one of those Not times. But then, the story would be kind of boring. We need the bad guy now and then.

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  2. Congrats, John!

    Sorry for my lack of comments last week. Summer has begun and it is chaos with my kids home. :)

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  3. Salacity [23]

    The nun slams the tip of her sword into the tiled floor, pale lightning weakly crackling away from it to either side. “Akheron! You are hereby charged with public indecency in five realms!”

    “Indecency?” Rach says, momentarily distracted.

    I admit I was also expecting something more salacious.

    Akheron’s reptilian eyes crinkle as he laughs. “That’s all you could get them to agree to? Or are you still hoping for a termination order?”

    “It’s a matter of time.”

    Erd’s eyes dart from us to the nun. I can practically see his thought bubble.

    “Rach–”

    “Yep. Eye, throat, groin.”

    “Or hand, Rach.”

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    Replies
    1. Antonia - wow, there;'s nastiness going on here for sure! and so succinctly too.

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    2. I don't see this ending well for Akheron. He should consider being more remorseful.

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    3. But is a sword the right kind of punishment?

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    4. Nice, Holly. I like the style of this. Always entertaining.

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  4. Update – Antonia

    The update is simple; we are working toward closing the shop. We had every hope of continuing to trade but when whole days go by without so much as one person coming in, the bubbles of determination an d exhilaration pop - one after the other. I’ve been spending time working out of we are weak or just sensible – everything is coming down on the ‘sensible’ side of the scale. We have been told of others who have closed long before us, of traders desperately searching for stock (which we were)… so …

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    Replies
    1. Hopefully this ending is leading to a fun new adventure.

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    2. Sad, but does sound sensible.

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    3. I retired last year and I like it. I hadn't planned on it, but it happened and it worked out. Hopefully, your situation will work out too. Good luck.

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  5. James E. Deegan29 June 2022 at 19:41

    I hope this decision works out well for you, Antonia.

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  6. The Lightweight

    In my weakest moment, a bubble of hope briefly rose to the periphery of my muddled consciousness. I fought to grasp it, haul into to my trembling arms and squeeze. But once again, it escaped. I waited, knowing it was gone, but waited anyway.

    A familiar voice: “Jason!”

    I peered through the fog.

    “Jason, for crying out loud! You have to drink the beer before you get drunk.”

    Baby steps, I thought, as I raised the bottle to my lips.

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    Replies
    1. James E. Deegan30 June 2022 at 22:24

      There is a learning process for virtually everything... drinking heavily included.

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    2. Loved the imagery of the 'bubble of hope.' Sounds like Jason's friends aren't very observant. :)

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